


The Ship of Theseus

by orphan_account



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Lio gets philosophical and Galo is a good boyfriend, M/M, Promare angst be like: what if Lio dissociated?, Spoilers, ooo fuck yeah love that tag, semi-character study?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-27 08:49:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21389416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: He couldn’t help it. He was hardly conscious at all and he knew it was just his brain filling in the blanks, as it did, but he remembered being cold and his vision going blurry and the sharp prickling running up his arms giving way to complete numbness.He remembered the sudden burst of heat, breathing in a lungful of air, opening his bleary eyes and seeing Galo above him.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 14
Kudos: 189





	The Ship of Theseus

Lio found himself looking at his hands more.

Everyone knew the expression but at this point, he thought he was familiar enough with his hands that he could use it truthfully. He knew the chip taken from his fingernail, the light dusting of freckles you only really noticed if you looked hard enough, the scab near his wrist that was going to scar if he kept picking at it. 

He never used to pay this much attention and that scared him.

He was worried, at some subconscious level, that his arms weren’t his own and he’d never even noticed.

He thought about it the time he woke with a start to his limbs feeling cold and heavy and so much like they were _gone_. He thought as Galo rolled over in his sleep, always running hot, and helped him warm up.

He couldn’t help it. He was hardly conscious at all and he knew it was just his brain filling in the blanks, as it did, but he remembered being cold and his vision going blurry and the sharp prickling running up his arms giving way to complete numbness. 

He remembered the sudden burst of heat, breathing in a lungful of air, opening his bleary eyes and seeing Galo above him.

And when it was all over he remembered suddenly that his limbs had been repaired and that scared him more than it should have.

He was well aware that the Promare wanted to heal. He’d never had to worry about injuries before, fire always licked the wound clean and left him feeling fine.

But he’d never thought it could extend that far. He guessed he was a little ungrateful.

He was staring at his hands again, his pen had smudged on his pinky, he was never patient enough to wait for it to dry. He turned his hand over, inspecting his palm. He wondered if anything happened to his fingerprints, if they’d changed. Were the lines on his hands different? If he ever took Meis up on his offer to try and read his palm with the ratty book he’d found through his travels, would he have a new fortune? How much room for error did the Promare leave?

He flicked the table, the slight pain sending him crashing back to reality.

The mess hall at the Burning Rescue station.

When had he ended up there?

In front of him sat a plate of something meaty with rice. It looked filling and Lio wasn’t entirely sure if he was hungry or not.

“Are you going to finish that?”

Lucia was leaning over the table, pointing accusingly at his plate.

He swallowed and pushed it towards her “I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach.”

That earned a chuckle from Galo “You mean mine?”

“Hmm?” confused, he looked up at him, leaving his hands resting on the table.

“You were in the garage, I got lunch for you,” he explained, setting his fork down on his empty plate.

All the cutlery was mismatched, only some of the plates were from the same set. Remi had a paper one since they’d ran out before they could put the dishwasher on.

“Lio?” Galo asked, his voice swimming sluggishly through his thoughts.

“Hmm?” he dragged his gaze back up from the table, finding it suddenly very hard to keep his attention in one place.

“Are you alright? Did you get enough sleep?” Aina tipped her head in her hand, fixing him with a look “You can take one of our bunks.”

That sounded nice. Though he was worried something might happen if he fell asleep with all of this rattling around in his brain. Galo had already shaken him awake from a nightmare the other night. He didn’t want a repeat of that, especially not at the station.

“I think I might get some fresh air actually,” he said, sort of gesturing towards the ceiling.

There were some scattered nods and Lio put his fork in the sink before slouching in the elevator, rubbing his temples and sighing.

He crossed the roof faster than he thought he would, the cold metal of the railing keeping him in check as he leant over, watching the city around him.

It was peaceful for a moment, Lio closed his eyes and hummed. If he imagined hard enough, he could almost smell the pizza from downtown, almost hear the bustling of the ex-Burnish at the camp. Temporary, of course, but hardly different to their little settlement by the volcano.

After a moment there was a ding behind him.

He heard heavy footsteps and gentle humming and knew immediately that it was Galo.

It was going to be Galo anyway but the confirmation was nice.

“Are you alright?” he asked, joining him against the railing. The breeze tousled his hair slightly and Lio found himself distracted for a moment.

“It’s complicated,” he decided. Because it was. He wasn’t sure if he could explain it well enough for Galo to get it. He could barely get it.

“I’ll listen.”

He felt a weight on his arm, when he looked up from the horizon he found Galo leaning on him. Not heavily, just a presence next to him. He realised that he was doing it to help ground him and that did something disgustingly sweet to his heart.

“When I was-” he stopped. He’d started talking without meaning to and he was glad that his brain had spared him enough consciousness to pause before he said something drastic like _dying_ “-The engine.”

Galo stiffened “Yeah?”

“You saved me and I… ” he trailed off, looking down at his arms. He uncrossed them and slid out of his jacket. He knew he would be too cold but it was the only way he could think to explain. He reached his hand out, his fingers flexing instinctively.

Galo exhaled and pressed against him a little harder, his head resting against the top of Lio’s.

He was fine with the morals thing. He could wake up any day of the week to a gross feeling in his stomach telling him that he wasn’t a good person and Galo could at least help with that. Tea and a blanket could do wonders, really.

This, however? This was miles out of any of their league. As lovable and wonderfully helpful as Galo was, he wasn’t sure if tea and a kiss could cure the lingering thought that someday his reflection wouldn’t move.

He felt so… Empty wasn’t the right word. Unfamiliar?

He was a stranger to himself sometimes, an accessory to a moving form that went about its day existing. Sometimes he just couldn’t drag himself back, he let himself be tugged along, distantly aware that he should probably feel more in control of his actions.

“-Couldn’t even _imagine_ something like that,” Galo said, off somewhere distant.

Lio flinched as the view of the city around him came swirling back into view. Galo was still talking.

“My soul can burn enough for both of us, I’ll make sure you stay bright enough!”

God, Lio loved him so much.

“That’s not exactly what I’m talking about, but thank you,” he sighed, leaning his head against his arm.

But that was an interesting thought. Two things to kick off whatever emotional spiral he was going down. He’d been taken apart and put back together and now without his fire, he was…

Different.

Someone else.

It hit him fast. He’d been skirting around it, sure, but he’d never actually thought about it with such clarity. Just thoughts in passing and vague emotions.

“I’m not myself,” he murmured, his voice sounding foreign to his ears.

“Lio,” Galo sounded caught off guard for a second.

He opened his arm and Lio settled himself into the hug, Galo hummed, reaching a hand into his hair “What do you need?”

“Hmm?” Lio asked unintelligently.

“I’m helping you out of,” he waved his hands around a little “This. Do you want to keep talking? Or we could just walk around for a little while? Or uh… Do you want me to distract you or help you?”

Lio took a deep breath and thought. It would be easy to brush everything off and say something like “Oh, I’m fine now” and go off and deal with it himself.

He looked back down at his hands and curled his fingers. Instead, he said, “Do you want coffee?”

Galo smiled and hugged him tighter.

His jacket was placed over his shoulders along with Galo’s arm, which stayed there as they exited the station. They were sent off with a quick wave from Ignis and then they were walking.

The walking part, Galo had explained, was important. Takes your mind off of things. Or something like that.

It was hard not to think about it as he cradled a hot cup between both hands. Except now it was different, sort of. He guessed it was the addition of heat.

Galo had gotten the rest of the gang coffee too, probably as a thank you for letting him take a longer lunch.

Most of what they were doing now was housefires, which didn’t need as much manpower as a Burnish fire. He guessed they were getting a little slacker.

They walked, Lio sort of ignored his coffee in favour for just feeling warm, leaning against Galo’s shoulder the whole way back.

They talked, not about emotions, just about life in general. They discussed whatever came to mind, Galo sometimes doing something just so very _Galo_ that it made the tiniest chuckle bubble up from his chest.

And when they got back Aina sent him a sympathetic smile and asked if he was feeling any better.

He was. He was more himself, at least. He pondered over a sip of now lukewarm coffee and nodded.

He was pulled off to the side before he could get back to his pile of paperwork left on one of the coffee tables (how long had that been there?). He was thankful for that, he was worried starting that now would send him back to staring at the wall with itchy skin.

He was pulled into another hug, a big warm one carrying so much love it nearly made Lio want to squirm, “Tell me when something like that starts happening again, okay?”

Lio nodded, though not without reminding him that sometimes he didn’t even _know_ it was happening.

When they pulled away Galo pressed a kiss to his knuckles. It was sweet, Lio heard Lucia gagging from somewhere behind him.

He held his hand to his chest as he watched him walk away, off to do some important job-related thing. Knowing Lucia it had something to do with his mech.

He supposed a warm drink and a kiss could cure him. In the meantime, at least.

**Author's Note:**

> 69 KUDOS NICE


End file.
